Legislature to Fight Over Beer, Wine

Beer containers and wine canisters will all be part of the turf wars that Florida lawmakers will engage in this spring. This spring, lawmakers will battle over the size of beer containers.

By Lloyd Dunkelberger

Beer containers and wine canisters will all be part of the turf wars that Florida lawmakers will engage in this spring.Although Tallahassee is run by the Republicans — who espouse less regulation and more free markets — one of the dirty secrets is that businesses and other special interest groups often use the legislative process and the state bureaucracy to literally box — or bottle — out their competitors.This spring, lawmakers will battle over the size of beer containers.Craft-beer advocates are behind a bill (HB 715) that would allow brew pubs to sell 64-ounce "growlers" or containers. State law prohibits beer containers of more than 32 ounces, unless they are gallon size (128 ounces).It is reminiscent of a battle waged a dozen years ago by state Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, and former state Rep. David Bitner, R-Port Charlotte, who finally got a bill passed that upended a 36-year-old law that restricted beer bottles to 8, 12, 16 and 32 ounces.You might wonder why that 1965 law was passed. It was aimed at handcuffing Miller Brewing, which at the time was selling a popular 7-ounce "pony" bottle.The growler war will be fought by the craft-beer lobbyists, who argue that allowing the popular half-gallon containers will help the young industry flourish in the state. They will face opposition from the beer distributors, who want to keep the current system, which is quite lucrative for them, intact.The growler opponents will cloak their argument in health and safety concerns — likely finding allies in groups that see larger containers leading to more alcohol consumption.The growler bill isn't the only "size matters" battle facing lawmakers.Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, has a measure (SB 658) that would allow manufacturers and distributors to sell wine canisters as large as 6 gallons in size to restaurants and bars. The law restricts the size to a gallon. Proponents say lifting the restriction would allow the hospitality industry to offer more high-end wines by the glass — because the canisters keep the wine fresher than bottles.Simpson said his bill is lifting a Prohibition-era regulation and would help wine manufacturers in Florida, including one in his district."This legislation would simply remove antiquated red tape that arbitrarily limits wine-container sizes in Florida," Simpson said in a statement. "By updating these statutes, which were written just after the Prohibition era, the Legislature would effectively allow Florida's hospitality industry to proceed with custom-tailored wine-by-the-glass programs through innovative new methods and with technology manufactured within my district."Some 36 states now allow the canisters, said Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami, who is sponsoring the House version of the bill (HB 623).Texas and Pennsylvania were the latest states to lift the restriction.

WINNER OF THE WEEKFlorida Republicans. Former state GOP chairman Jim Greer's guilty plea avoided a trial that could have cast a glare of publicity on the unsavory inner workings of the state party during his tenure and embarrassed a number of Republican leaders. Former Gov. Charlie Crist, who is now a Democrat, might also have benefited in that his role in Greer's rise and fall would have been part of the trial.

LOSER OF THE WEEKFlorida Democrats. Party operatives were hoping Greer's trial would have tarnished the GOP brand heading into the next major election cycle in 2014. Now the Republicans can put the scandal behind them as both parties focus on the upcoming governor's race, Cabinet and legislative contests.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK"Guilty, your honor," Greer told a judge, pleading to charges of grand theft and moneylaundering related to a fund-raising company he created while he was the head of the state party.